Well, I decided that I should probably get back to blogging since it’s been 2 months since my last entry. I apologize for being so horrible about it. I’ve spoken to many of you via phone, email, or internet of some sort… but I really should have continued to blog in the process. So, hopefully this next month I’ll get back on my blogging game.
So… today we’re in Montevideo, Uruguay. It’s our last South American cruise as well as the last time we visit each of the ports that we’ve become so well acquainted. Today is my IPM (In-Port Manning) day, so I’m stuck onboard doing all of the activities and library duty for the day. It’s become great though because on our IPM days we’ve really begun to take the brunt of the work so that everyone else can get the majority of the day off and really maximize their time ashore. For instance, we were in Buenos Aires for 2 days (we overnighted there one night) and it was the very first time I’ve had an entire day off while on ships. It was the greatest feeling knowing that there wasn’t a certain time that I had to be back onboard to work. The only reason I had the day off was because the Party Planner was on IPM and said she would take my 3-hour library shift so I would have the whole day off. It’s been great with this team because we all get along and understand that we’re all here to travel and the more time we have ashore, the better the opportunities to really experience these countries. Soooo, we’ve all started taking shifts from one another to make everyone’s lives easier. It’s really great!
This cruise my great Aunt and Uncle are onboard for the 16-day cruise from Rio de Janeiro to Santiago, Chile. Danny and I have been spending a lot of time with them introducing them to all of the great people onboard and taking them to places in the ports that we’ve found to be the best representations of South American culture. In Buenos Aires the first night, we went to a tango show that was absolutely amazing. I have absolutely no idea how the people move their legs as quickly as they do without kicking one another… even Danny was impressed! The following day, we all went to the La Boca district of Buenos Aires. This district is full of colorful buildings, sidewalk restaurants with tango dancers right outside, and artisans with their work on tables surrounding the streets. We walked around for a bit then stopped at a restaurant with outdoor tables where we watched tango dancers performing on the outdoor small stage.
During my first contract, I bought shot glasses for myself and my sister at every port since we both collect shot glasses. During this contract, I decided to cut my losses with the shot glasses since many of them broke during their transport last time and I’ve ended up unintentionally collecting art from different ports. I’ve bought 2 small paintings and two small statues, as well as three really small framed photographs of tango dancers. I figure someday when I have my own place, it’ll be cool to use art as a way to reflect back on the adventures that I had at Sea.
Colleen comes onboard in Valparaiso for 22 days! I’m so excited!!! She’s actually going to be staying in my room and getting all of the same treatments as a crew member, only she doesn’t have to work. It should be a great time for her, and it’ll be amazing to show someone exactly what it’s like to work on a ship. I think it’ll give her a great opportunity to see why I’ve continued to do this job for longer than I originally intended, and why I may want to stick with it for a while longer. She’ll get to get off the ship in every port and really be able to see parts of the world that she has never been to, while seeing the behind-the-scenes world of cruise ships. Right now, Leen is in Nicaragua on a medical relief trip. She left on March 20th and will be flying from Nicaragua to Chile to meet up with the ship. She may just be all traveled out by the time she’s finished!
As for me, I’m still waiting to figure out what I’ll be doing after this contract. I have to wait and see if I get asked to come back for the Grand Voyage because as I’ve said many times, I would most like to come back to this ship because it has an amazing itinerary and Danny will already be here… and since I guess I like him a little bit, it would be nice to be on the same ship again.
In other news… only a month and 5 days til I’m home!!!! I think this time I’ll be home for at least 2 months, so I plan to make time for beach getaways, nascar races, and plenty of fun with friends and family! I would love to catch up with everyone because the biggest challenge in being away from home is realizing how much has changed since I’ve been gone. So, of course, I would absolutely LOVE to meet up with everyone to see how life has panned out in the past 5 months.
Alright, back to library duty… I love and miss you all lots and can’t wait to see you very soon!!!!
xoxo
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Holiday Seasons, etc.
Well, I’d like to begin by apologizing for being so horrible about blogging over the holidays. I hope you all had an amazing Holiday season and that 2009 has been successful thus far. For the past two weeks, it’s been hard to find time even to type out a little update. Soooo, here goes:
Christmas onboard was interesting at best. It was my first Christmas away from home and definitely made me realize that I never want to spend the holidays away from my family and friends ever again. Christmas has always been my absolute favorite time of the year and although we were in Antarctica for the 23rd, 24th, and 25th… it just didn’t feel like the Christmas spirit was in the air. The décor of the ship was appropriate with trees and lights, but working for 12 hours was hardly what I wanted to be doing.
Christmas Eve was a normal day at Sea… lots of work and socializing out on the outdoor decks when we weren’t working an actual shift. In Antarctica there are a lot of environmental rules and regulations to try to keep the area as pristine as possible. That being said, we couldn’t have any outdoor sporting events. I loved that aspect because we had very few events and the indoor ones that we did have were run by the DJ for the most part. Christmas Eve we had an International Choir performance at 11:15 pm. The performance included carols sung by the English-speaking choir, Indonesian choir, and Filipino choir. The passengers absolutely loved it! After we all got off of the stage, we went to the Pinnacle Grill (the fine-dining restaurant onboard) and had cookies and drinks with all of the staff members that participated in the choir. Midnight mass was held in the show lounge. I dragged Danny along for his first Catholic mass since he was about 12. I think this was the strangest part of my Christmas because our family traditions with mass were always different than most. We used to have a mass at my Grandma’s house and my Great Uncle John would always preside over the mass because he is a priest. So, being in a mass on Christmas that was not as personalized was a bit strange. I still liked the midnight mass though!
On Christmas Day (as I said before) I worked A LOT. I instantly decided that when you pick up a job at a movie theater or Chinese food restaurant, you know you’ll be working… but everyone else should have hours adjusted accordingly. Do people REALLY need to check books out on Christmas while in Antarctica? Probably not. It just was a bit frustrating because it was our Christmas too, not just a holiday for the passengers. But, we got through it. I did get to watch the Christmas Cabaret show that the cast choreographed and performed in the afternoon. It was cute… full of Christmas carols and fun dances. All of the staff members were invited to a nice dinner on the lido deck, where Danny and I both got surf and turf (filet mignon and lobster tail) and had a few glasses of wine. He even drank wine, so it must’ve been a special occasion! Then, it was back off to the library until closing.
New Year’s was fun, though it involved a whole lot of preparation! On the 30th, the whole entertainment team (including event staff, cruise director, event manager, about 5 musicians, and all 10 cast members) went into the show lounge at 11:30 pm and began blowing up TONS of balloons for the balloon drop that we would have the next night. We also hung silver and gold streamers on every single pole in the whole lounge. We put center pieces on all tables and hung balloon strings down the tall walls on the sides of the stage. There are railings that were pulled out and assembled on the front of the stage so that we could convert the stage into an additional dance floor (the center flooring is also a dance floor.) Needless to say, the hard work that night and the following day paid off because the lounge looked amazing! The pictures I have don’t even do it justice.
When we arrived in Rio de Janeiro, we had 2 overnights. This was the first time that I’ve been in one place for 3 days since I was home! On the first night, a bunch of us went out and were going to go to a club, but the cover charge was really expensive so we decided to go to this street that is lined with bars and restaurants and is apparently pretty safe in comparison to most places in Rio. The bars had ridiculous lines and it would’ve taken us all night to get in, so we decided to just walk up and down the street to get a feel for the city. It reminded me of a big festival because there were people everywhere at 2 am! There were carts everywhere on the street selling sodas, beer, and Smirnoff Ice. Apparently Brazil doesn’t have open container laws like we do in the US. Haha. We ended up stopping at a restaurant that was AMAZING! Danny and I split a dish that had a pizza-looking pan and the pan was filled with slices of filet mignon and topped with sautéed onions, melted cheese, and potato wedges. We obviously were not thinking about health, but it was soooooo good! After that, we took a cab back to the ship and our 4:30 am bedtime did not end up being very fun for me since I had to work disembarkation the following morning at 7 am.
Needless to say, I spent my time off the next day sleeping so I could catch up and get back on track. Now we’re on another cruise from Rio back around through Antarctica and ending in Valparaiso, Chile. This cruise we have quite a few VIPs onboard. The parents of the CEO of Holland America are sailing with us along with two other couples. Also, we’re doing a lot of preparation because one of the head honchos from Corporate is coming to sail with us during our next voyage. He often goes on ships for a week (or even a day) and goes through everything with a fine-tooth comb and critiques everything that is done onboard. We have to make sure everything is top-notch for the next cruise so he won’t tear us apart!
We’ve still had time to get off the ship and have fun. On Friday we were in Montevideo, Uruguay… I’m pretty sure it may be one of my favorite ports here. I got off the ship with the other event staff guy and his fiancé from the cast, the DJ, and Danny. We spent the afternoon walking around and taking fun pictures. Then, we went to a fun restaurant and ate lunch and drank some local beer. The beer comes in 1 liter bottles and is less than $3. On our way to the restaurant, we walked by some street vendors. I ended up buying a painting off of the street for $20. It’s a painting of the streets in Uruguay and was done by a local. It’s really pretty and the price was definitely right. Something tells me that I shouldn’t start my collection now when I’m going to have to get it all home somehow. Oh well, I’ll find a way.
Our new Event Manager (the cruise director I worked with on the Veendam) is officially into the swing of things. He was an Event Manager in the past, so now he’s just trying to readjust his mode. We’re trying to get ready for Antarctica again, as the weather is quickly getting colder. I’ll try to resize my pictures and put up some pictures of the penguins and whales that we saw over Christmas!
I miss you all so much and can’t wait to hear from you! I’ll definitely be better about blogging now that our busiest time has passed… Love you all!
Xoxoxo.
Christmas onboard was interesting at best. It was my first Christmas away from home and definitely made me realize that I never want to spend the holidays away from my family and friends ever again. Christmas has always been my absolute favorite time of the year and although we were in Antarctica for the 23rd, 24th, and 25th… it just didn’t feel like the Christmas spirit was in the air. The décor of the ship was appropriate with trees and lights, but working for 12 hours was hardly what I wanted to be doing.
Christmas Eve was a normal day at Sea… lots of work and socializing out on the outdoor decks when we weren’t working an actual shift. In Antarctica there are a lot of environmental rules and regulations to try to keep the area as pristine as possible. That being said, we couldn’t have any outdoor sporting events. I loved that aspect because we had very few events and the indoor ones that we did have were run by the DJ for the most part. Christmas Eve we had an International Choir performance at 11:15 pm. The performance included carols sung by the English-speaking choir, Indonesian choir, and Filipino choir. The passengers absolutely loved it! After we all got off of the stage, we went to the Pinnacle Grill (the fine-dining restaurant onboard) and had cookies and drinks with all of the staff members that participated in the choir. Midnight mass was held in the show lounge. I dragged Danny along for his first Catholic mass since he was about 12. I think this was the strangest part of my Christmas because our family traditions with mass were always different than most. We used to have a mass at my Grandma’s house and my Great Uncle John would always preside over the mass because he is a priest. So, being in a mass on Christmas that was not as personalized was a bit strange. I still liked the midnight mass though!
On Christmas Day (as I said before) I worked A LOT. I instantly decided that when you pick up a job at a movie theater or Chinese food restaurant, you know you’ll be working… but everyone else should have hours adjusted accordingly. Do people REALLY need to check books out on Christmas while in Antarctica? Probably not. It just was a bit frustrating because it was our Christmas too, not just a holiday for the passengers. But, we got through it. I did get to watch the Christmas Cabaret show that the cast choreographed and performed in the afternoon. It was cute… full of Christmas carols and fun dances. All of the staff members were invited to a nice dinner on the lido deck, where Danny and I both got surf and turf (filet mignon and lobster tail) and had a few glasses of wine. He even drank wine, so it must’ve been a special occasion! Then, it was back off to the library until closing.
New Year’s was fun, though it involved a whole lot of preparation! On the 30th, the whole entertainment team (including event staff, cruise director, event manager, about 5 musicians, and all 10 cast members) went into the show lounge at 11:30 pm and began blowing up TONS of balloons for the balloon drop that we would have the next night. We also hung silver and gold streamers on every single pole in the whole lounge. We put center pieces on all tables and hung balloon strings down the tall walls on the sides of the stage. There are railings that were pulled out and assembled on the front of the stage so that we could convert the stage into an additional dance floor (the center flooring is also a dance floor.) Needless to say, the hard work that night and the following day paid off because the lounge looked amazing! The pictures I have don’t even do it justice.
When we arrived in Rio de Janeiro, we had 2 overnights. This was the first time that I’ve been in one place for 3 days since I was home! On the first night, a bunch of us went out and were going to go to a club, but the cover charge was really expensive so we decided to go to this street that is lined with bars and restaurants and is apparently pretty safe in comparison to most places in Rio. The bars had ridiculous lines and it would’ve taken us all night to get in, so we decided to just walk up and down the street to get a feel for the city. It reminded me of a big festival because there were people everywhere at 2 am! There were carts everywhere on the street selling sodas, beer, and Smirnoff Ice. Apparently Brazil doesn’t have open container laws like we do in the US. Haha. We ended up stopping at a restaurant that was AMAZING! Danny and I split a dish that had a pizza-looking pan and the pan was filled with slices of filet mignon and topped with sautéed onions, melted cheese, and potato wedges. We obviously were not thinking about health, but it was soooooo good! After that, we took a cab back to the ship and our 4:30 am bedtime did not end up being very fun for me since I had to work disembarkation the following morning at 7 am.
Needless to say, I spent my time off the next day sleeping so I could catch up and get back on track. Now we’re on another cruise from Rio back around through Antarctica and ending in Valparaiso, Chile. This cruise we have quite a few VIPs onboard. The parents of the CEO of Holland America are sailing with us along with two other couples. Also, we’re doing a lot of preparation because one of the head honchos from Corporate is coming to sail with us during our next voyage. He often goes on ships for a week (or even a day) and goes through everything with a fine-tooth comb and critiques everything that is done onboard. We have to make sure everything is top-notch for the next cruise so he won’t tear us apart!
We’ve still had time to get off the ship and have fun. On Friday we were in Montevideo, Uruguay… I’m pretty sure it may be one of my favorite ports here. I got off the ship with the other event staff guy and his fiancé from the cast, the DJ, and Danny. We spent the afternoon walking around and taking fun pictures. Then, we went to a fun restaurant and ate lunch and drank some local beer. The beer comes in 1 liter bottles and is less than $3. On our way to the restaurant, we walked by some street vendors. I ended up buying a painting off of the street for $20. It’s a painting of the streets in Uruguay and was done by a local. It’s really pretty and the price was definitely right. Something tells me that I shouldn’t start my collection now when I’m going to have to get it all home somehow. Oh well, I’ll find a way.
Our new Event Manager (the cruise director I worked with on the Veendam) is officially into the swing of things. He was an Event Manager in the past, so now he’s just trying to readjust his mode. We’re trying to get ready for Antarctica again, as the weather is quickly getting colder. I’ll try to resize my pictures and put up some pictures of the penguins and whales that we saw over Christmas!
I miss you all so much and can’t wait to hear from you! I’ll definitely be better about blogging now that our busiest time has passed… Love you all!
Xoxoxo.
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